“Now go,” Brice said. “Rehearse and make this show a sellout.”
“And, Erika,” McCartan said, “now that you’re back with the company, I hope you’ll return to being the Equity Deputy. Asher is good, but he’s not you.”
“I’m not quite sure how I’m supposed to take that,” Asher said, putting his hands on his hips. We all laughed.
We said our goodbyes, and I walked with Asher up the stairs and into the theater. As soon as I walked on stage, the cast and crew burst into applause. Katherine ran over and flung her arms around me.
“It’s about Frosty time you got back here. It hasn’t been the same without you.”
“I missed you, too.”
“Well, I guess you’re better than having poor Serafina read your lines over the speaker,” Peeter said as he patted me on the shoulder.
“She didn’t?”
“Yep. It was a bit of asnowshow, if you know what I mean,“ Peeter replied.
“Speech,” someone yelled. And more people said the same thing. I finally gave in.
“I’m glad to be back onThe Naughty List. I missed all of you. Now, we don’t have much time before we open, so let’s get this elf-ing show moving.”
Chapter 25
Therestoftheweek was a whirlwind of rehearsing, tweaking the show, new songs, new dialogue, and evening performances. I didn’t know if I was coming or going. Beyond the cast and crew, I saw no one else. I sent thank you cards to everyone who had helped me get my job back.
After the Saturday evening performance, a group of cast members went out to a restaurant near the Manhattan Plaza. The show had run smoothly, and I thought we’d hit our opening night with no major problems. The restaurant was nice enough to stay open late for us. We pulled together several tables and sat and enjoyed each other’s company.
I ended up sitting next to Asher. We were now talking and texting almost every day. It reminded me of the good old days—before we started dating. I hadn’t realized how much I’d missed myfriendAsher over the past few years. He’d matured more than I could imagine.
“Toast!” Asher said, clinking his glass. “To all of us onThe Naughty List. May we stay forever humble and make Santa proud!”
There were a bunch of “hear, hear!’s” around the room.
I took a quick breath and stood. “I’m not one for giving speeches, but I want to thank you for what you did this week. You’ll never know how much this meant to me. Here’s to a long run.” I lifted my glass, and everyone around the table did the same.
Asher put his arm around me when I sat down, and he leaned in to whisper in my ear. “You’ll never know how glad I am that you’re back with the company. I can’t imagine working on this show without you.”
“Likewise. If you had asked me three months ago if we’d be sitting next to each other having dinner, I would have told you, you were out of your mind.”
“I know. After the way we ended things, I didn’t think you would ever talk to me again. I can’t reiterate enough how sorry I am about all that.”
“Water under the bridge,” I said, raising my glass to him. “Here’s to us, looking forward, not backward.”
He clinked my glass, and we both drank.
The rest of the meal was relatively uneventful. I learned about some of the craziness that happened while I was gone that no one had told me about yet. I told them about playing charades with “normal” people.
The only slight downside to the night was that we all had a lot to drink. Instead of throwing Asher in a cab, I dragged him back to my apartment. I promised him he could sleep on my couch.
The elevator door opened on my floor, and Asher collapsed against the floor and started laughing loudly. “Shh…” I said. “You’re going to wake the neighbors.”
“Let them hear me,” he belted, breaking into a semblance ofRagtime.
“Shh…” I tried again.
A door down the hall opened. I turned to see who it was. Kirk stood in his doorway wearing only his boxers. His hair was disheveled.
“Hey, look, it’s the hot neighbor,” Asher yelled. “Howdy there, neighbor.”
